Lux Fulgebit - Ambrosian-Milanese Christmas chant

LUX FULGEBIT, Ingressa ambrosiana, Natale; Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, Giovanni Vianini

giovanni vianini

Visione codice spartito nella notazione originale del Canto Ambrosiano, il Canto della Chiesa di Milano ( Italia) LUX FULGEBIT, Ingressa ambrosiana, Natale; Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, Giovanni Vianini, www.cantoambrosiano.com

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Discovering our Saints - St. Anthony of Padua

From the video description (YouTube channel CCTNtv):

CCTN is proud to present this new series of short informational videos about our Catholic Saints and the lives they lived.

This week, St. Anthony of Padua

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St. Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of Loveno Grumello, a two-village administrative unit within the comune of Paisco Loveno, the origin of part of my roots. Actually, there were many matron or patron spirits in Val Camonica long before St. Anthony. Vehmic, Gaulish, possibly Etruscan or Langobard, and Roman polytheistic; and later Catholic. The new paradigms simply knock the heads of off the old statues and erect the new ones. However, the valley is solidly Catholic today.

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Papal Bull of 1455

Papal Bull of 1455:

...Champions of the Christian Faith...

to invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue all Saracens and Pagans whatsoever and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery...

The struggle of Christian and Saracen was one of which both sides played the roles of both perpetrator and victim. In other words, the Muslims of those times committed the same type of aggression as above. However, with the Pagans--or "native believers" (those who believed in the spirituality of their ancestors--the socio-political/religious dynamic was very different. These were not people from some foreign land, but those who adhered to the pre-Christian ways of at least 40,000 years of history.

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Annual "Carnival of Bagolino" in Val Sabbia - Part 2

Il Carnevale di Bagolino 

Translated from the video description:

The Carnival of Bagolino is a rare and precious survival of local folklore. The carnival has existed in this village from 1500 due to the isolated location and the passion of its people who handed it down from generation to generation. It gained growing notoriety, attracting the attention of scholars of ethnology. The Festival is divided into two distinct events, animated by elegant figures of Balarì (dancers and musicians) and the grotesque figures of Maschér (masks). 

This video is a documentary, and it shows more of the beauty of the village location in the Sabbia Valley. There are numerous other videos of the carnival. The festival seems to be a blend of both folk pagan and Christian elements. It seems appears to be disciplined as far as the symbolism it seeks to convey; as opposed to more urban festivals where people go out of their way to be bizarre... and perhaps miss the point. Part of the origin goes back to ancient fertility rites, and with this carnival occurring at the at the end of Winter.

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Annual "Carnival of Bagolino" in Val Sabbia - Part 1

The dancers and masks of the traditional Carnival of Bagolino

By Claudia Moreschi - http://www.italianstorytellers.com/ - July 2, 2014

Dancers, masks and weird traditions. This is Bagolino Carnival!

Bagolino is a small village in Sabbia Valley, in the province of Brescia, on the border with Trentino Alto Adige. It is in the dairy production area of the local “Bagòss” cheese and is famous for its peculiar Carnival celebrations that date back to the XVI century, as documented by the writings preserved in the municipal archive.

Because of the isolated position of the village, the Carnival of Bagolino (also called ‘Bagosso‘ carnival) has preserved its historic characteristics during the years. Due to its particular folklore it has become increasingly renown drawing also the attention of scholar ethnologists. The Carnival of Bagolino has been ranked among the most important ethnological discoveries of the past 200 years.

The celebrations of the Bagolino Carnival are made up of 2 different performances, led by:

* the ‘Balarì‘, elegant dressed dancers and players

* the grotesque ‘Maschér‘ (masks).

The musical origins of the ‘Bagosso Carnival’ are yet to be discovered. Probably its music reportory roots in Continental Europe: according to scholars, it inherited the practice of instrumental musicians from Austrian Tyrol.

The movements of the dancers mime the ancient court dances, revisited and voiced in their own way by the Bagolino inhabitants.

The Balarì

‘Balarì‘, the dancers, perform only on the Monday and Tuesday of Carnival along the streets and in the squares of Bagolino. Their show is the most spectacular of all the Bagolino Carnival because of their peculiar music and refined dance. A unique event in Italy with only few equivalents in Europe. It provides a striking example of the level of complexity which a folk musical culture can reach.

Violin is the main instrument that gives the leading melody of the various songs that make up the large music repertory that accompanies the dances.

The dancers’ costumes are very characteristic. They wear a felt hat entirely covered by a long red ribbon cleverly folded, adorned with embroidery, jewelry and multicolored ribbons that make up a large bow. On the red band there are family (or borrowed) gold jewels (chains, brooches, earrings, rings etc.). That’s why they don’t peform their dance outdoors in case it rains : there is the risk of losing the gold!

The dancers’ face is hidden by an ivory mask and they wear a dark suit with jacket and pants to the knees, dark tie, white shirt, white gloves, white decorated socks and black shoes. On their shoulders they wear a large shawl with fringes falling down on their back and a wide silk stripe over their left shoulder with flower embroidery or lace inserts.


The Maschér

The tradition of the ‘Maschér‘ – the masks – has a more popular origin referring to the Carnival jokes. Identity is kept unknown.

The masks disordely move among the crowd wearing grotesque or frightening masks and wooden clogs that makes noise on the street pavement. They mock people by touching their genitals, an old habit reminiscent of ancient fertility rituals. Tradition has it that in ancient times the jokes had as polemical target the Counts of Lodrons, often hated by the Bagolino inhabitants.

The masks wear ancient traditional dresses; they usually move in pairs dressed disguised as old woman (‘vecia‘) and old man (‘vecio‘). In addition they move with an awkward posture, stomping and with a falsetto voice.

The maschér ritual is infused with symbolism and many gestures related to a courtship ritual.

The Carnival of Bagolino takes place every year on Sunday, Monday and Mardi Gras. This year will be on March from the 2nd to the 4th 2014.

Participation is free and recommended to anyone who doesn’t want to miss such an extraordinary and unique Carnival!

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Ambrosian Easter 2012 - Duoma Milano

From YouTube user prigionierodizenda

Video description:

Pasqua Easter 2012 Duomo Milano - Ambrosian Exultet Preconio pasquale Ambrosiano in Latin

The Ambrosian Exultet is quite different from the Roman version. Chanted in Latin according to the original Ambrosian melody.

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Atrium Animae: Atmospheric Neoclassical Darkwave

Atrium Animae is a newer, still little-known band from Italy, which according to the pagan music review blog 'Vampires & Mortals', represents a sub-genre called "Atmospheric Neoclassical Darkwave." Now I know that a lot of black, pagan, Celtic, Viking, Gothic, folk, etc. metal is rough. However, this band captures something different. It is dark in the sense of a dark-clouded rainy winter day. It's not exactly Gothic, although some of the Gothic music I find very interesting. It seems to combine, to me, the heroic Germanic/Odinic ethic with a dark-themed "Gaulish" vent---to coin a term---within a more-or-less classical-style. Apparently, some of the songs have a Catholic origin. Just for the record, there's a big, big difference between symbolism which is dark in nature (the night, somber, foreboding, winter, rain, etc.), and something dark-hearted. Now, some types of metal, black metal, Satanic metal, do indeed go down this path; however it's important to make this distinction.

Atrium Animae made a splash within pagan music with their album 'Dies Arae', and especially the song 'Angelum Abyssi', which I could not find posted anywhere online. I heard it on PaganRadio.net. Their offical website is http://www.atriumanimae.com/; and they have a MySpace page in which you can listen to some of their music. They have a facebook page, which has many links to online reviews which reflect that they did make quite a hit with last years release; and was considered one of the years best in it's genre. Their facebook page defines the genre as "Neoclassical, Darkwave, Ethereal, Classical, Gothic, Ritual" and as "Symphonic, Neoclassical, Ethereal, Heavenly Voices with strong influences from classical and spiritual music." Projekt Darkwave is the record label of the band. I'm new to pagan music, so a lot of this is new to me. I wanted to also add a link to their song 'Rex Gloriae'. I find myself asking myself, is this music that good, or am I merely being smitten by something new? I think, for me, mostly the former. It's just like anything else, if you like something, and want to see more of it, you vote with your pocketbook.

From the pagan website 'The Wild Hunt':

The Italian band Atrium Animae was formed in 2007, their name is “considered as a symbolic representation of the passage from physical world toward an immaterial world.” The heavenly soprano of Alessia Cicala, a member of the band Chirleison, partnered with the compositions of Massimiliano Picconi, together create music on their debut “Dies Irae” that is stately in its atmosphere, a sacred enveloping that is almost funerial in outlook. Or as the band’s promotional material puts it: “A symbolic voyage in a silent wasteland made of treachery, defeat and spiritual hunger. A world where the locked embrace of loss and despair are represented through a reinterpretation of passages taken from religious and pagan texts.”

There are so many review sites, which is a good thing, but I can't put it all here; but I would like to put one from 'The Morton Report'.

Newly Released Album, Dies Irae, From Atrium Animae

With Dead Can Dance-like etherealism...
 

June 15, 2011
 

By Matt Rowe, Columnist

If you remember the gorgeous, brave, old world and another culture musical compositions of Dead Can Dance, then you remember how fixated you were on the combined talents of Brendan Perry and otherworldly vocalist Lisa Gerrard. Understood. Together, they crafted some of the most intriguing songs ever to be adopted by a hungry audience of music lovers, the largest ever for the kind of music Dead Can Dance produced.

Funereal and gothically-tinged, Dead Can Dance opened the pipe for tolerance of a new kind of music. Because they willingly approached music from a cultural standpoint, recreating until they found a common ground between the new music fan and those that are inured to the kind of underlying musical qualities found in classical works, they found a steadfast audience. In turn, they set the path for other bands.

Atrium Animae is an Italian duo, formed to express the kind of music that early-era Dead Can Dance embraced. The male component of Atrium Animae, Massimmiliano Picconi, is the keyboardist and master of the programming aspects supplied to the album. The stunning, layered female vocal work is the work of Alessia Cicala. Alessia Cicala was vocally trained in Conservatoire, and brings her haunting operatic soprano to the newly released 'Dies Irae' (June 14 via Projekt Records).

'Dies Irae' contains seven tracks of intensity, musically characterized by ancient Catholic religious rites often heard in films depicting such rites. The music explores authenticity in every corner of its dark and apocalyptic airs of foreboding wrath. The lyrics, drawn from antiquity, add an otherworldly quality. There is little to compare the grand content of 'Dies Irae' to other than the potential comparison of 'Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun' (1987) from Dead Can Dance, as well as choice selections of other tunes from various early DCD albums. Suffice it to say that 'Dies Irae' is a meticulous exercise in a world completely unlike our present one.

The music heard on 'Dies Irae' is not for everyone. It might not even be for you. But if you listened admiringly to anything by the greatly missed Dead Can Dance, then you'll find something to appreciate here in this bold, new album by a band that insists on being who they are. The goal here is to put up a new signpost leading to a new discovery for you. Hopefully, you'll be intrigued.

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Catholic Church Issues Guide on How to Convert Witches

Since when is it the job of a religion to convert members of another religion... as a matter of organizational policy!? Every religion has the right to recruit members from society at large, but the Vatican is now opening up old wounds by literally targeting a religious demographic that they used to simply murder off.

The Vatican doesn't seem the least bit concerned with tens of millions of Muslims migrating into Europe with no end in sight; not to mention the fact that Catholicism, and Christianity at large, has become a comparatively weak social construct in the UK in particular. Apparently, they're too preoccupied with a very small number of practitioners of native paganism, or what they refer to as "witchcraft." Apparently "priestcraft" is okay. If this action was targeting one the larger religions, then people would call it "hate," but if it's a smaller relgion, then it's okay under the current paradigm.

The Vatican is a sovereign state which oversees the worldwide Catholic Church; as well as a massive, MASSIVE, global banking conglomerate. Why are they concerned with a few people chanting in a forest clearing, who aren't even bothering anyone? Now when we add in the factor of the Vatican's historic systematic murder of any religion which wasn't Catholic (Waldensians, Cathars, Pagans, etc.), this action by the Vatican is nothing short of crazy. If there were pagans somewhere, antagonizing Christians, then that would merit a similar response; but lets face it, what we have here is an ant versus an elephant.

The Camonica Club of North America, descendants of the Val Camonica witch trials brought upon by the Vatican in the sixteenth century, condemns the Vatican's pamphlet entitled 'Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers', and calls for them to simply leave these peaceful people alone. Whatever fault could be found among an absolutely minuscule number of pagans is a drop in the bucket compared to the very serious problems of a much larger number of trusted Catholic officials worldwide in recent years; not to mention the Vatican's terribly destructive proxy actions in Croatia not so many years ago.

Catholic Church Issues Guide on How to Convert Witches

Theunis Bates - AolNews - February 4, 2011

LONDON -- Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church had a simple way of dealing with witches: It burned them alive. The Vatican still views these broom botherers as a danger, but is now calling on Catholics to eliminate the neo-pagan problem in a more moderate manner.

According to a new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society -- the U.K. publishers for the Holy See -- the faithful can convert Wiccans by following a few simple steps. The pamphlet, titled "Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers," suggests that Catholics spark up conversations with these unbelievers about shared concerns such as the environment, The Telegraph reports.

And if you bump into a witch in a bar or coffee shop, the book adds, it's important to recognize that "Wiccans are on a genuine spiritual quest," providing "the starting point for dialog that may lead to their conversion."

The booklet's author, former Wiccan Elizabeth Dodd, states that nearly 70 percent of people indulging in witchcraft are young women seeking some kind of spirituality, according to the Daily Mail. The source of that statistic isn't clear, but some 7,000 Brits identified themselves as Wiccans in the 2001 census.

So why does the Vatican once again feel that it needs to confront pagan practitioners? The Daily Mail says that the church is afraid the dark arts are becoming ever more tempting thanks to the success of Harry Potter. Dodd says that any youngster who dabbles in magic risks long-term problems.

"Whether spellwork is effective or not," writes Dodd, according to The Telegraph, "has no bearing on the psychological damage that can be done to a young person who is convinced that they have summoned the dead, or have performed a spell that has hurt or injured another."

More important, Dodd adds that the simple act of experimenting with spellcraft is an insult to the Almighty. "The use of magic, the practice of witchcraft, offends God because it is rooted in our sinful and fallen nature," she writes. "It attempts to usurp God."

While many religious and nonreligious folk might regard Dodd's message as extreme, her point has clearly been heeded by some Catholics. As of this morning, the pamphlet was listed as sold-out on Amazon.co.uk.

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The Milan Cathedral: Iconic image of Milan and Lombardy

The Milan Cathedral has long been the single strongest iconic image of both Milan and Lombardy. Incredibly, it took five hundred years to complete its construction. The history of it's construction is so long, and the architecture so complex, that I will not put the entire Wikipedia page here.

From Wikipedia -- Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano; Milanese: Domm de Milan) is the cathedral church of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.

The Gothic cathedral took five centuries to complete. It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the second largest Catholic cathedral in the world.

The American writer and journalist Mark Twain visited Milan in the summer of 1867. He dedicated chapter 18 of Innocents Abroad to the Milan Cathedral, including many physical and historical details, and a now uncommon visit to the roof. He describes the Duomo as follows:

"What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!... The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself...Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond. ... (Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street... They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands."

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Mother Cabrini: First American Saint of Lombardian descent

Mother Cabrini is the first American Saint, recognized by the Catholic Church. She was of Lombardian descent. I will merely transfer her biography from Wikipedia here. As we now know, Wikipedia is good in some ways and not in others. However, I believe this to be the standard and accepted short biography.


Mother Cabrini

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (July 15, 1850 – December 22, 1917) known during her life as Mother Cabrini, was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

She was born Maria Francesca Cabrini in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, in Lombardy, the youngest of thirteen children of Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini who were farmers. Two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years.

At 13, she was sent to Arluno to study under the Daughters of the Sacred Heart at the Normal School, and in 1868, at 18 she was certified as a teacher. Four years later she contracted smallpox When she tried to enter into the Daughter of the Scared Heart, Mother Giovanna Francesca Grassi refused admission even though she saw true potential in her because of her frail health. She said, "You are called to establish another Institute that will bring new glory to the Heart of Jesus." She was rejected by the Canossians as well. Instead, she supported her parents until they died and helped the family on the farm. She taught at a private school that was founded by one of her fellow sisters in Sant’Angelo. Then, in 1871, she became a public school teacher in a nearby village under the request of her pastor.

Finally, she took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit priest, Francis Xaiver. She became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.

In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religous vows with her, founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) on November 14. Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death.

The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Bishop Giovanni Scalabrini of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII.

Although her lifelong dream was to be a missionary in China, the Pope sent her to New York City on March 31, 1889. There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, NY today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, [1] and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after her death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve Mother Cabrini's goal of being a missionary to China. After much social and religious upheaval and only a short time, the sisters left China, and subsequently a Siberian placement.

She was naturalized as an American citizen in 1909.

Mother Cabrini died of complications from malaria at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Though originally entombed in West Park, NY, after her death on December 22, 1917, her remains were exhumed from West Park in 1931 and are now enshrined on display under glass in the church's altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, part of Mother Cabrini High School, located at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The street to the west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor.

She was beatified on November 13, 1938 and canonized on July 7, 1946 by Pope Pius XII. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun. Her body is not incorrupt; although it is often said to be so, signage around her shrine and resting place in Washington Heights make it very clear that she is not.

The Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago is named after her, due to her work with Italian immigrants in the location. It has since become a haven for underprivileged and poor people and the MSC sisters still work there. Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, also bears her name.

The Cabrini Mission Foundation is an organization committed to advancing St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's mission and legacy of healing, teaching, and caring around the world.

Mother Cabrini's feast day is celebrated on December 22 by Traditionalist Roman Catholics.

Further information and links at the Mother Cabrini page at Wikipedia